Largest tire you can run.....

DOGMAN · April 6, 2003

If my 1500HD comes with 245's what is the widest & largest tire I can run without rubbing & without a lift...285's----305s.... Anyone got pics of their trucks with BIG tires & no lift.??

Shaners · April 6, 2003

There are alot of guys running 285/75/16 tires on stock rims...

I'm running 265/75/16's on my stock rims...

k1500chevy97 · April 6, 2003

one person here is running 305 or 315s on his stock rims and he reports no rubbing .

I asked the local tire shop about putting 285s on my truck and they said they wouldnt do it the largest they would do is 265s

Stomper · April 6, 2003

I put 285s on my '03 Silverado 1500HD, but I cranked the torsion bars up and put a 2" block in the rear to bring the whole truck up. Their is no way the 285s would fit without any kind of lift because they are still a little close in the front by the air dam. I think I will trim the air dam back some when I get time. Other then that it looks sweet. I have some pictures at:

http://www.picturetrail.com/stomper1/

DOGMAN · April 6, 2003

STOMPER- nice truck..thats what I'm looking for....QUESTION- Cranking the torsion bars-will that cause more strain on them or other componets? Where did you get the blocks for the rear? Is it involved? Sounds like a inexpensive route to lift your truck a little

...right up my alley!! If it works

Stomper · April 7, 2003

DOGMAN,

I'v heard people say it wears your CVs out faster, but I have a 1992 S-10 4x4 that I lifted up 5" right after I bought it new and to this day I have 273,000 miles on it and haven't had a CV go out yet. I have had to put one set of boots on the CVs but thats it. And on that I have the T-bars cranked about all the way up.

On my 1500HD I didn't crank them all the way up just enough to get between an 1.5" to 2" of lift. The rear block I made at work out of a piece of aluminum, drilled a hole in the center and pressed a steel dowel rod in for the stud. Putting the block in was easy. I did have to get longer U-Bolts. But to do it remove the bottom bolt on both shocks, suport the truck by the frame and put a floor jack under the rear dif., jack the rear dif. up until you have the weight and remove the U-Bolts lower the floor jack slowly until the rear end leaves the springs enough to put your block in between the axel and the spring.

I think I will get longer shocks here some time soon because the factory ones are all most all the way out.

Hope that all made sence.

pilot00 · April 7, 2003

I just put 265's on mine and that is about as big as you can go with out doing anything to it and have no rubbing. The 2003's do not have the clearance the 99-02 have. I have a 2003 1500hd 4X4.

HendyPhoto · April 8, 2003

Before I had my lift, I fit 285's with VERY MINOR trimming. I didnt crank the torsion bars. They would rub if I had the wheel cranked going in reverse, and thats about it, but not bad. They looked cool and I got lots of compliments!

ScramblerHD · April 9, 2003

I am running 285's on stock wheels and no problem, except as Hendy Photo points out. When cranked in reverese they will rub, but very little.

ToTheMax · April 23, 2003

Man this realy sux. I had a 01 Dodge 1500 2wd and 285's fit on it with the stock rims with no rubbing or altering. What is wrong with GM by making a 4wd with these gay little tires? I guess I will have to get the sawzall out....

HendyPhoto · April 23, 2003

LOLLOL :werd:

JimWilson · April 23, 2003

Small tires AND no ground clearance.

That's okay for 2wd, but not for 4wd.

AlanTDickey · April 23, 2003

One trick is to trim the plastic air dam away from the tire. I think you may be able to put 285s on with that mod alone. You may also be able to get someone to install some kind of bracket or spacer to move the entire front bumper forward an inch or so. I'm putting a replacement bumper on my still-not-delivered (T-appx 7 days) 1500HD which also opens up the front of the well. None of these help with rubbing on the rear part of the wheel well, but there is significantly more room behind the front tire than in front of it.

HDChuck01 · April 23, 2003

i have 285's, torsion bars cranked all the way and air dam trimmed so they wont rub. these are on 8" rims too!

HD-Nate · April 23, 2003

If my 1500HD comes with 245's what is the widest & largest tire I can run without rubbing & without a lift...285's----305s.... Anyone got pics of their trucks with BIG tires & no lift.??

Lets see I have (or had) 285/75/16 on:

2003 2500HD CC, 4x D/A= They fit fine, no rub, but cranked the torsion bars up 3 turns to help level out the truck. DID NOT, I repeat, DID NOT change the ride quality one bit.

1997 Z71 Ext. Cab=They fit fine also, did not turn the torsion bars what-so-ever, 130k miles to date and zero problems with any of the drive train

1996 3500 Std. Cab= They fit fine, cranked the torsion bars 3 turns to level out the truck. Would have done just fine w/o the torsion bar adjustment. Slightly roughened up the ride a bit.